Academy
by gundam06serenity
Summary: Welcome to the Academy, higher education for societies elite. First year is never easy. Being a scholarship kid hardly makes things any better. Elitist lecturers a prestigious secret society, and an entire student body trying to trip you at each corner AU
1. Chapter 1

Academy 

Chapter One

"Holy shit!"

"Language!"

"Ah-sorry. Shit!"

"...You know that's not what I meant. But it's an improvement, I suppose." Warm laughter drifted out from the small, battered, out of date mobile phone. "Stop gawping."

Wide violet eyes looked down at the much abused phone, amazement clear in his eyes. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he noticed the smudge marks he had left on the window, where he had, moments earlier, been pressed up against the glass.

"How did you-?" He asked incredulously, pale, elfin features twisting into a frown as long, tapered fingers brought the old phone back up to his ear. 

A line of neat rounded holes lined each ear , from lobe to upper ear, eight in total, stood out faintly against his pale skin, an additional three marring his delicate face. A small, gleaming pile of silver and stainless steel spikes, bars and studs lay in his lap. He had, as promised, taken all obvious piercings out. 

"You forget how well I know you" the rich voice laughed again. "Which reminds me-take the rest out before you arrive."

He blinked, mouth open "But I took all of the above uniform level-" he protested.

"Tongue?" The voice sounded smug. 

He pouted. How did he damn well do that, every time?

"Pouting won't work-I can't see you. Come on, take it out" The voice insisted, amusement clear yet leaving no room for argument.

"Okay, okay. I give." He grumbled, balancing the phone between his shoulder and ear as he unscrewed the top ball of the silver bar, sliding it carefully out of his tongue. He glanced out of the window as he fumbled with the small ball, trying to re-screw it to the bar without dropping his phone. He watched the landscape as he sped past. Fields, so much green, trees-never had he seen so many trees in his life! It seemed like an eternity since they had left the outskirts of the small city surrounding the even smaller commercial airport. Just how far away was this place?

"There, done. Happy now, old man?" He grinned impishly, tone taunting, as he stuck out his tongue at the phone. He edged closer to the window, grin widening at the indignant spluttering floating from the small, battered phone, barely able to contain his own laughter.

"Old man? I'm only four years older than you, brat! Jesus Christ, kid, you'd think I was thirty or something from the way you go on about it all the time."

"Ah-ah! Language" He taunted in a see-song voice, eyes sparkling, pleased, as he always was on the rare occasion that he managed to wind the other up enough to use such language. "And it's almost five years, I'll have you know! Mr I'm-about-to-turn-twenty-one-in-just-a-few-months-time." He sniffed, unable to hold back his giggles at the voices indignant reply.

"Oh, I am so sorry, oh young'en. It's the old age, you see-I have, obviously—tragically!—forgotten what it was like to be a teenager. Ah, how time passes. Oh, the unfairness of it all, the-"

He couldn't help it, couldn't stop himself. Dropping the phone, he fell sideways onto the empty seat, clutching at his sides as laughter racked his slim, slight frame. His laughter only increased as the indignant voice rose, just about reaching him from where it lay on the floor, trying to catch his attention from where it had fallen.

He listened, calmly, as the voice continued. A small, sad smile played on his lips as, now nervous orbs flicked to the window 

One pale hand clutched tightly at the small pile of metal, trying to take comfort from the cooling silver and steel. Excitement had been replaced with worry and uncertainty. Sitting up carefully, he glanced down at bitten, chipped, varnish-less nails. Just another in an ever growing, it would seem, list of things he would have to get used to.

Cradling the old, battered phone in the palm of one hand, he asked, uncertainly clear in his voice. "Hey, do you...do you think I'm doing the right thing?" small, white teeth bit nervously on full, cherubim lips.

"You earned that scholarship, Duo. You deserve to be there. I went over the brochure with you and everything . Why second-guess yourself now of all times?"

Pale, tapered fingers twisted nervously, pulling at the end of his now mid-thigh length chestnut locks. He tried to catch sight of his reflection in the window, checking to see if the customary braid that he always kept it in had come undone or mussed in anyway. He wanted to make a good first impression. Things were, after all, going to be tough enough how it was.

"I-I...won't fit in...I don't belong there. I know it and you know it! Just 'cause I passed that silly test-" He stumbled over his words, speaking a mile a minute, nervousness shining through.

"A test with barely a fifteen percent pass rate that you aced" The voice interrupted; not that it made any difference, as Duo continued.

"-That most of the others, you and I both know, won't even have looked at, thanks to Mummy and Daddies money, let alone attempted-"

"So what? You passed-that's all that matters. Just focus on your studies. Who gives a fuck why they're there-it doesn't matter."

Duo sighed, running his fingers through his bangs. No longer excited, now nervous orbs glanced warily out of the window, avoiding looking at his own reflection in the dirty glass, as he watched trees speed past, leaves starting to turn from healthy, rich moss green to coffee, ivy to faded chocolate, emerald to cinnamon.

"Hey" Duo drew his attention to the no longer silent phone, realising with a start that he must have spaced out for a moment.

"Yea?" He answered quietly.

"If they-anyone, anyone at all-students, staff, lecturers-fuck who's son they are or what connections they have-if any of them give you any problems, any at all, just give me a call. I'll come down and sort them out for you, okay?"

Duo let out a strangled laugh at the others little speech. Although his tone had been light, the underlying steely edge to his half in jest promise was unmistakable.

"Sure, sure. What are you going to do-defend my honour, or beat up there dads?" He sniggered.

"Well, you do need someone to do both, dontcha?"

"Rub it in why don't you?" Duo huffed, fiddling with the small mother of pearl button on his white shirt cuff.

He had given his word that he would arrive in his uniform. Not that he would have wanted to wear his normal clothes there, mind you. But there was no need to tell him that, was there?

He wore a white dress shirt-starched and ironed, wrinkle and crease free when he had put it on mere hours earlier, now, looking as though it had spent the better part of a month in the bottom of a pile of the teenagers laundry or screwed up, forgotten in some corner for a week or three . Mother of pearl buttons neatly glinted in the mid morning sunlight, rather than the pearl that the academy usually 'advised' it's students to wear.

He, unlike his soon to be fellow students, did not wear any cufflinks at all. The black necktie he had already loosened, undoing the top few buttons of his shirt. Silver glinted faintly from beneath the open white shirt, a delicate chain just peeking out from within the wrinkled white depths. A burgundy waist coat, in a similar state to his shirt, hung lop-sided over his shirt on his slight frame, mother of pearl buttons contrasting nicely with the deep, rich material. The school emblem, a stylized LV in Prussian blue on top of crossed silver roses was clear on the material. Plain black trousers encased his legs, again, having lost their neatly-pressed look over the course of the day. Black leather ankle boots with a small heel adorned his feet, rather than the academy's preferred plain black loafers. They, though, were still shiny-polished and somewhat presentable, well, presentable as long as no-one were to look too close, lest they see the worn and scuffed leather, well cared for, but clearly showing years of love and abuse.

Clear, bitten nails showed no sighs of their usual black polish.

A matching burgundy blazer lay across his lap, having taken it off in an attempt to restrain himself from fraying the overly long sleeves out of nerves. He had resorted, instead, to fiddling with the end of his braid and nibbling on what was left of his nails.

"...If you're really not happy about this, Duo..."

"No, no. I'm just being silly, tch. I'll be fine." Duo hurriedly reassured. He could tell from the tone of voice that all he had to do would be to say the word and he would be on his way back.

"You're sure? I-ah, hold on a sec..."

But to what?

He sighed, blowing at his bands. The main reason he wouldn't say anything, no matter what, reared it's ugly head again.

"I'm sorry, Duo. I've got to go. Call you back this weekend?"

Weekend? That was four days away...

"Sure. Speak to-" He blinked, taking the phone away from his ear as the dial tone hummed carelessly. "Bye..."

Turing to face the window again, he let his forehead rest against the dirt streaked, old pane, allowing, just for a moment, a last show of weakness. Eyes slipping closed, a small sigh escaped downturned lips. "...oh well...I guess things can only get better from here...right?"

End of Chapter One 


	2. Chapter 2

Academy

Chapter Two

Violet orbs turned back to look out of the window, watching as the last of the densely packed trees zoomed past the window.

"Wow!" Gasping, he pressed up against the window, taking it all in with wide eyes.

Healthy, emerald fields surrounded by dark, dense, knarled, ancient trees. A large, crystal clear, sparking lake dazzled in the chilly, watery afternoon sky.

The most prominent feature, though, barely visible on the horizon, was what had caught his eye. A breathtaking, massive old Victorian building-more of a mansion, really. Weathered brick, lead pained windows, beautiful carvings. Statues dotted sporadically both outside the building and throughout the extensive grounds, from angels depicted in stone to chiselled, smooth marble carvings of commanders on horseback, gleaming in the weak sunlight despite their age. 

The lawns were, from what he could see, perfectly kept, cut neatly, short and even, each tree, bush and plant pruned and maintained to perfection. A winding, stone pathway led up to large, light, clean stone steps and massive oak doors.

"The brochure really had nothing on this." Eyes sparkling with awe, the nervousness glinting in their depths subsiding slightly, bleeding slightly as excitement shone in its place. With a great deal of effort, he restrained himself from, once again, pressing close to the window. He wanted to take it all in at once, not wanting to wait another moment longer, not wanting to miss a thing.

A deep, rattling chuckle echoed through the vehicle. Sheepishly, he moved away from the peeling plastic coated glass, shifting on the worn, faded seat. Glancing down self-consciously, he twirled one of the studs between his fingers.

"Nervous, kid?" The same rough, well used voice asked. "Why the sudden change of heart? You were bouncing all over the place, oh, will 'bout an hour ago."

Duo glanced up with a faint smile and a nervous laugh. He looked down the long, linoleum lined isle, long hardened and dirty gum, empty bottles and sweet wrappers strewn around the cramped, overused space.

Meeting the drivers eye in the mirror, he twirled the small silver stud one final time before pocketing the handful, slipping his mobile into his waistcoat pocket.

"Yea, well, a four-fuck, almost five" he glanced down at his out of date, cracked digital watch face "hour bus drive will do that to a guy."

"What was that?" The bus driver called back, running a meaty hand through greying, thinning hair.

"I said-" Duo raised his voice "Ah, hold on."

One hand grabbing a battered black leather duffle bag, the other a large, worn holdall, he moved unsteadily up the isle, towards the front end of the bus. He stumbled as the floor shuddered and jumped, due to the age of the engine, rather than the quality of the surprisingly well-kept country road leading up to the Academy.

After all, the board of governors wouldn't want any of the Academy's precious students complaining to Mummy and Daddy that the wheels of their nice, shiny limo, Mercedes or Porsche had been damaged on the grounds, lest said Mummy and Daddy not make that rather generous donation to the school next term (that was, as an unwritten rule, more of a necessity for all of those not there on scholarships.)

Slinging his bag over the chipped turquoise rails, he gently set them down in the small storage area, before turning his attention back to the driver. He leant back against the railing, hands looking around the cool metal, more for balance than anything else, as the bus continued down the final stretch.

"The Academy-it's a lot further out than I thought" He repeated, unable to help himself as his gaze was drawn back out of the window. 

"That it is" The driver responded. "An' only two busses a week out of this far. Not enough demand for more."

"What?" Duo jerked around to face the driver. "Only two?" Elegant eyebrows drew together in a frown. That...Could be a problem, come half term, holidays-hell, that changed his plans for weekends already.

"That's right. You're lucky to have caught this one-I should have left half an hour earlier than I did, but Sue brought in a couple of dozen home made bagels, and, you know...Anyway, you would have been stuck in town till Friday mornin' at the earliest-assuming, that is, that ol' Betsy" He patted the wheel affectionately "Don't have no more mechanical problems before then. She's the only one in the fleet that they'll spare to do the route past the Academy, as we get half a dozen passangers on a good week on this route-and most of those just want to take the scenic route to the shop in the next town over." He explained.

Duo paled at the implications. If he had missed that bus by just another minute, he would have been stranded in town for the first week of his first term. There was no way he could have afforded a taxi ride that far out, and it wasn't exactly the type of area where you could hitch a ride to. Few people, save students and staff, took the route to the isolated, elite Academy, situated upon acres upon acres of private land, and it was highly unlikely that they would be willing to give him a ride.

By then, they may have cancelled his scholarship. At that point, all that mattered was keeping his place in the elite Academy. 'I wont let you down...' He thought to himself, unconsciously allowing his fingers to clutch the silver pendant and chain hanging from his neck.

"Well, I wont lie to you. You sure as heck aren't going to fit in down there with those rich, snotty brats." The driver began giving his opinion, regardless of if it was wanted or not. "If you want my advise, I'd say keep your head down, your mouth shut, and have as little contact with them as possible. Too good for them, if you ask me. Anyone who can pass those ridiculous entry exams is too smart by far to be in this place. It'll tear you apart if you let it-they'll tear you apart." His voice faltered. 

Duo looked closely at the man, giving him his full attention.

"You...You don't let them, you hear me? They need to know that us folks not born with a silver spoon up our arses into a platinum crib are still worth something, are still as good as-no, better, than they are."

Duo nodded, wordlessly promising the man that he would try his best.

He had heard of what had happened, previous years. Out of a potential five scholarship places per year, on average only one to two were granted each year, many years, none being granted at all. Out of those one or two lucky individuals, less than a handful in the last decade had stuck it out. One of the two scholarship students, a sixteen year old girl in her first year, the previous year, had suddenly withdrawn from the Academy after a rather glazed over 'incident' that had resulted in a good month of hospitalization, followed by a further three of physiotherapy. Yet another reason to add to the growing list of why he shouldn't attend...

"Right, kid, this is as far as I go." He announced, drawing Duo out of his musings.

Blinking, he glanced out of the window once more. They were still a good mile or two from the actual building itself. 

"Oh-ah, okay then" He was a little confused, as he couldn't see a bus stop in sight. He wasn't looking forward to the unexpected trek through the grounds up to the Academy. Just the type of first impression he wanted to make as his soon to be peers would drive past him in their various chauffer driven cars. 'At least it will give me time to calm down and to think…I really do need to get rid of some of these nerves before I get there. God knows what type of first impression I'd make otherwise! … Aww, fuck, who am I kidding? I'm fucked either way…'

"Hey!"

Duo dragged his attention back to the amused and anxious looking driver.

"Just breath, kid. You'll be—erm, well, you'll make it." He gave a luke warm grin. "As I was sayin', they had the stop removed-someone" He rolled his eyes "complained about it ruining the views out over the grounds, having a 'common, ugly metal monstrosity' within sight. Bah! Just come down to the bottom of the road between twelve an' two if you need to get back to town, or just away from here. Twice a week remember-Mondays and Fridays."

"Thanks" Duo smiled at him, as he clutched the straps of his holdall in both hands, his duffle already slung over his rumpled cloth-encased back. Shakily, he made his way down the rumbling, shuddering steps of the bus, taking his first steps onto Academy grounds. 

He looked around slowly, awe once again returning to violet eyes aged beyond their owners years. 'I made it…I'm here…I'm really here…I have a chance, now…Good grades from here-hell, a pass from this place, and anything-the opportunities that'll open up!'

"Good luck kid! You'll be needin' it" 

He jumped at the doors slammed shut behind him, the drivers last words sticking in his mind.

'I know I will…but…It'll all be worth it in the end. It will. It just has to be…'

End of Chapter Two 

Authors Notes: I do believe that this is the first time I've had more reviewers on gundamwing universe than on fanfiction dot net :o I would like to apologise for the poor formatting in the previous chapter; I type in word 2008, which doesn't seem to like translating to dot text documents. I will try and get the formatting better for this; unfortunately, this will likely result in double-spacing between paragraphs on fanfiction dot net. Thank you again for the reviews.


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